31st December: Hecate

The last day of each month is sacred to the Goddess Hecate. As 31 December is the last day of the year, as well, ten facts about this Greek goddess seem particularly appropriate.

1. It's not certain where her name derives from. Some say the Greek word for "will" or possibly an obscure name given to Apollo which meant "she that operates from afar". Another theory is that she evolved from an Egyptian frog goddess called Heqet.
2. Hecate was the only daughter of Perses and Asteria. Leto, mother of Artemis and Apollo, was her aunt. Her grandmother was the Titaness Phoebe, who personified the Moon. Hecate never married, nor did she have a regular consort. She's generally thought not to have any children although some legends say she gave birth to the monster Scylla.
3. She is associated with crossroads, doorways and borders between one place and another, including the entrance to the underworld. Hence she was a goddess the Greeks would call upon at critical moments and points of change. She was often depicted in small sculptures as having three aspects, and it was common for such effigies to be placed at crossroads or at the entrance way to a house. She also became associated with being "between" one place and another, such as the wild places between towns.
4. There are a number of animals associated with Hecate. One is the Frog, a connection with Heqet, perhaps, or acknowledging that frogs are creatures that move between the elements of air and water. Owls, which are known for being able to turn their heads a long way around and therefore see easily in different directions, like Hecate's triple form. Polecats, because she is said to have felt sorry for another goddess who'd been turned into one and made the polecat her personal servant. Probably the animal most closely associated with her was the Dog. She is depicted in art as having a dog with her and her approach was heralded by the howling of a dog. The gates of the underworld, one of Hecate's areas of influence, are said to be guarded by a dog, Cerberus.
5. She is also the goddess of plant lore, particularly medicines and poisons. Yew, Garlic and cypress are particularly sacred to her. She is also associated with hallucinogenic plants such as mandrake. The fact that dogs are used to dig up mandrake helps tie this particular plant to her. Plant lore was often associated with witchcraft, which may be why Hecate has come to be known as the crone goddess of Witches and sorcery.
6. The Athenian Greeks honoured Hekate during a festival called the Deipnon, which means "evening meal", usually observed around the time of the new moon, or the darkest night of the month. They would eat a meal, either at a crossroads, or at what would in today's homes be the top of the driveway. The purpose of this was to placate any angry souls Hecate had around her, purify the home, and to seek forgiveness for anything anyone in the family might have done to annoy Hecate. There would be a ritual sacrifice, often of a dog, which may even have been eaten at the meal, or a female black lamb.
7. She ruled over three kingdoms: the earth, the sea, and the sky, and was associated with the moon, which has three phases, full, half and new. This is probably why she came to be depicted as having three forms.
8. Her Roman equivalent is the goddess Trivia, which means "three ways".
9. She had the power to create or hold back storms, and so became the patron of shepherds and sailors.
10. In Shakespeare's MacBeth, she is invoked by the three witches who are concocting a brew at the opening of the play.